Good evening everyone, and happy Friday! In the next couple days I hope to have some really fun stories for you, so keep your eyes on your inboxes! :)
For now, though, enjoy this wrap-up of last night’s brief Town Council meeting, which I tuned in to via Zoom. (As always, I’m grateful to Kayla and Katie Holfield for making those livestreams possible.) Also, not to impugn my journalistic objectivity, but I’m pretty jazzed about the outcome of the mural application process that I’ve followed for months. Soon, there will be a new piece of art in downtown Floyd.
The Council took a bit of time at last night’s meeting to debate whether this impending mural reflects the culture of Floyd, and I’ll let you decide for yourself. I’ve attached an artistic mock-up from Threefold Arts. Have a fantastic weekend, everybody, and I’ll talk to you Monday.
-Ashley
Floyd is getting a new mural; moment of silent prayer will now begin meetings
After a multi-step approval process that spanned months, the Floyd Town Council rubber-stamped a downtown mural at its regular meeting last night.
Kyra Aulani from Threefold Arts submitted her application for a sign conditional use permit on July 8, 2020. In the application, Aulani described the art project—which will be displayed on the side of the building at 110 W. Main Street—as “a mural to honor to honor the Town of Floyd.” The mural creation will be sponsored by a grant from the statewide Virginia LoveWorks program, which is part of the “Virginia is for Lovers” tourism campaign.
When reviewing the mural application with Council several months ago, Town Manager Kayla Cox said it is the first known such application to be received by the town. At its Nov. 5 meeting, the Town Council set a public hearing date of Dec. 3 for the application. Per the conditional use permit approval process, the application was also reviewed by the Floyd Planning Commission.
Back in December, only three public comments were properly submitted in advance of the meeting, and all expressed support for the project. Supporters included business owners Derek Wall, Kamala Bauer and Jack Wall.
The Planning Commission subsequently held its own meeting, and Cox said the commission received several emails from the public with feedback on the project, all in support of the mural.
Mayor Will Griffin said he spoke with a former owner of the building where the mural will be painted. “Even though she’s within earshot of the stop light, (she said) nobody ever comes down there,” Griffin related to the council. He was referring to the fact that most traffic in Floyd flows along Route 8, which runs perpendicular to Main Street. Counterintuitively, the businesses on Locust Street tend to see more visitors than those on “Main Street Floyd.”
“The mural may at least bring some curiosity that way, to get some support and patronage in there,” Griffin said.
Councilman David Whitaker raised several concerns about the mural at Thursday’s meeting. He pointed out that the Town’s new sign ordinance dictates that a mural can only be artistic, not for a commercial purpose. (As an aside, the Council will hold a public hearing on proposed updates to its ordinances in March.) He questioned whether artwork promoting a tourism campaign is considered “commercial.”
“If you consider the logo from the Virginia is for Lovers campaign—would you consider that an advertisement?” Whitaker asked the Council.
He also took issue with the mural’s design. He said the designer “did a beautiful job, I think…(but) I don’t see what it has to do with the Town of Floyd.” Whitaker continued, “I don’t see the relevance. The image could go on any wall, in any town in Virginia.”
Griffin countered that the mural includes an image of Buffalo Mountain.
Vice-Mayor Mike Patton thanked Whitaker for his input, saying that a majority of the Council holding an opinion doesn’t necessarily make it correct. In this case, four council members seemed to favor the mural. Patton ultimately made the motion to follow the Planning Commission’s recommendation and approve the conditional use permit, which was seconded by Councilman Chris Bond. The motion passed 4-1.
In other matters before the Council, members revisited the recent debate about whether to add an opening prayer to meeting agendas. The proposal originated with Whitaker and prompted a handful of public comments at the last meeting. The Council took a preliminary vote on the motion to add a prayer at its meeting Jan. 7, which failed.
Several members of the Council requested that Town Attorney Jim Shortt review the legality of an opening prayer and report back. Whitaker explained Shortt’s findings last night. “I sense with Jim’s opinion…Basically, he gave us three options: status quo; a moment of silent prayer or have an actual prayer,” Whitaker said. “Last time we talked about this…I got a sense that maybe this is not a battle that’s worth fighting.”
Whitaker made a compromise motion to hold a moment of silent prayer at the beginning of Council meetings. The motion passed unanimously.
“I think that’s a very good compromise,” the mayor said. “Thank you for listening to what we said.” Shortt said the moment of prayer can be implemented as an agenda item immediately.
Finally, the Council set a public hearing date for the town’s new zoning ordinance. The Floyd Planning Commission will hold its hearing on Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m., Cox said. Patton moved that the Town Council follow on March 4 at 6 p.m.
Cox also informed council members that she, the mayor and the vice-mayor will have their first meeting with Thompson & Litton on Feb. 18. Thompson & Litton was recently awarded a contract to conduct a feasibility study on renovations to Town Hall. The town committed $30,000 to the project.
The Floyd Town Council will next meet Thursday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m.